Surfing and SUP Legend Laird Hamilton

The Evolution of An Adrenaline Junkie

What makes an innovator? Where’s the best surfing? We pick Laird Hamilton’s brain in this exclusive interview from 2015.

By Kesley Elgie-Domier

I&T Today: Tell us about the sheer adventure, risk, and feeling of big-wave riding. What goes through your mind when you’re riding a wave like Pe’ahi ( Jaws)?

Laird Hamilton: Well, I think that’s an ongoing understanding. You know, the more I think about a question like that, the more I realize when you’re doing it, you’re so in it. It’s a place of ultimate focus which really narrows your vision and dulls your hearing. Being in that state turns off all of those things in your system that aren’t essential to the act itself or surviving it. I think we seek that feeling out and that it’s something so innate to us. In big surf on an intense ride like Jaws, that is one of the few places that you are as present as can be on the planet that we’re on.

I&T Today: Why do you think a select few people in this world feel that innate desire to push the envelope riding building-sized waves, skydiving from the stratosphere, or summiting Mount Everest? Where do you think this desire for the ultimate adrenaline rush originates?

LH: I think it’s a mechanism that’s in man. Not every man has it, because it’s not essential for all of us. Maybe it’s just essential that some of us do. It’s something that’s in us that we’re driven and drawn by these things as part of the exploration of what is possible. Maybe again it stems back to how we evolved and why we evolved and what we needed to evolve. I think that emotion and that thing that’s in us is something that was essential for our evolution, and without it being in some of us, there wouldn’t be any of us.

I don’t think it’s any kind of addiction kind of thing. In my perspective, I think it has more to do with this built-in DNA download to fulfill this need that you may have in you. There is a mechanism that is set, which forces us to go and see where the edge is. How far is it? How high is it? How fast it? Once we figure this out, it can be safe for everybody else.

I&T Today: Big wave riding has been around for many years, but you and guys like Buzzy Kerbox, Darrick Doerner, Peter Mel, Ken Bradshaw, and Dave Kalama advanced it through tow-in. What did you see in the way we rode big waves that prompted you to help innovate things like tow-in?

LH: I think the understanding of the cap. There was an obvious limitation there. At a certain point, we weren’t able to participate. There was a line drawn from the desire and the need to ride these things we weren’t able to ride. It seemed like such a waste, so we had to figure out how to get onto those waves so we could enjoy them.

I&T Today: What is the biggest difference between hydrofoil boards and regular surfboards?

LH: The biggest difference is probably just pure efficiency and how amazingly smooth the hydrofoils are. You can go out in all kinds of conditions. In a way, you are able to tap into the core of a wave’s energy and kind of harness its power in a way we couldn’t have imagined. There’s all the byproducts of that which are faster, further, and just that feeling that you get when you fly on the foil.

I&T Today: Did you see stand-up paddle boarding picking up as quickly as it has?

LH: I had a pretty good idea that it was going to blow up because of what you could do, and the way you could do it. There were so many things about SUP that made it into a massive activity now. You can do everything from paddle down a river, ride a wave, or go across a channel. Because you can go paddle on flat water, people of all different levels of athleticism and age can participate. That led to a (much) bigger audience, more so than hydro-foiling or towing in. SUP is a perfect remedy for surfing because it’s a big business with very few participants, and we need more participants in the ocean, to not only support the industry, but to look after our playgrounds.

I&T Today: Tell us about the time you paddle boarded the English Channel with Buzzy Kerbox in 1990.

LH: You know, we were flying by the seat of our pants; it was just way that we operated! We had done the Molokai Channel in Hawaii and we were paddle boarding quite a bit. We were going to France for the summer, so we brought every single toy that we could think of with us. Paddle boards were one of them. After paddling the Molokai Channel, we were stoked about the English Channel, so we figured we’d do it! We did very little reconnaissance; we didn’t realize you needed to have a permit to cross the channel. We just went for it.

That was a good paddle. It was a wicked current and one of the busiest shipping channels in the world, so we played chicken with freighters. Then we were met by the English Coast Guard. They advised us to get in, but we replied that we would not be getting in the boat, and kept paddling. They followed us until we got to shore and we were taken into custody. It was quite the experience!

I&T Today: What wave provides the ultimate surfing challenge for you?I: What wave provides the ultimate surfing challenge for you?

LH: Teahupo’o. There’s nothing like it. It has this perfection that tends to be reliable, so there is a lot less doubt at that spot. As far as being a rider and riding a wave and the challenge of what it takes to ride each wave, I think Jaws is at the top of my list. Nothing breaks quite as fast or hard right now.

That’s one of the best things about waves in general. Each one is so distinctly different and unique and has characteristics and things about it that make it it’s own. Sometimes it’s like what is better? Milk chocolate or dark chocolate?

I&T Today: You recently took a heli-skiing trip up to the Tordrillo Range in Alaska. Any big similarities between big waves and big mountains?

LH: Absolutely! There is a similar mindset, especially in the commitment. Once you let it rip, there isn’t any turning back. Sometimes on the mountain, you can make a few transitions, but once you let it roll, you aren’t stopping until you’re done. You could say the mountain is sleeping, but you KNOW the waves are awake. Sometimes when you’re coming down a big wave, you just cut a big avalanche behind you; (on a mountain), you’re just trying to stay ahead of it.

I&T Today: What do you think it takes to be an innovator?

LH: Thomas Edison has a quote that I absolutely love: “All you need to be an inventor is an imagination and a pile of junk.” I also think boredom is a little bit of it, and maybe just not accepting the status quo. The willingness to fail is a key element in the character of someone who is going to truly innovate; you have to have no issues with failing, no matter how it looks to others. You can’t fall victim to trying to fit in or to peer pressure. A majority of us prefer to stay within things we know, and that ability and the willingness to fail I think that allows you to really change things. You must be relentless in your pursuit. ■